The Last of Them
by Lacey-Mae Emelia
Summary: "The Doctor had always hated being alone, but even more than that, he hated death, he hated loosing people, and the more attached he got to anyone, the more difficult it was for him to say goodbye. She was a human - her time in the universe was limited to only a spark in his own existence" The Doctor cannot stand for her to be close, but more so he cannot stand for her to go


"He called me your space Dad, Clara".

"What, that! That's what you're so pent up about?" exclaimed Clara as she followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. The door swung softly shut behind her but she ignored it, her questioning gaze focused on the Doctor's back as he fiddled with the buttons and levers of the console with an urgency that Clara couldn't quiet fathom.

"Doctor?!" she questioned again, jumping when the Doctor's sudden erratic movements stopped and he slammed a fist down onto the console. Clara could see even from her position at the door that the muscles in his neck had tensed and she fought the urge to step back into the caretaker's room that was currently being used to home the TARDIS.

Instead though she advanced towards the raised platform, laying a hand lightly on the railing, her eyes turned up expectantly towards the blackly clad figure. The light from the time rotor spilled around him, his form glowing a soft blue. He looked so alien, more so than ever before. He _acted_ so alien. It produced in Clara an emotion that she didn't know the Doctor was capable of making her feel - fear.

The Doctor's fingers fiddled absent mindedly with a switch on the console. "No Clara" he said quietly, his back still towards her, his words slightly muffled. Clara took another tenuous step towards him, stopping though when he turned suddenly to face her. His expression, always so hard these days, always so intense, was suddenly even more biting as he glared down at her through fierce blue eyes.

"He's a soldier-".

"So!" Clara interrupted, feeling a surge of frustration course through her body. First it was Journey, now Danny. She understood that the Doctor didn't like soldiers as a concept, hell, she herself had stood on Trenzalor, she had watched those people die, but this personal vendetta he seemed to feel towards each and every individual soldier seemed frankly ridiculous to Clara; after all, the Doctor was a one man army all by himself.

The Doctor held up his hand to her though, his eyes closing for a brief moment as if he was trying to regain the composure which she sensed he was close to loosing. His mouth was drawn into a firm line and when he did speak his voice sounded measured, as though he were trying to force calmness into it.

"Of all people Clara, I thought you, _you_ at least, would know better".

"What is that supposed to mean!" Clara could feel herself getting angry and she quickly ascended the remainder of the steps to face him directly. The Doctor shook his head, a sour smile curling his lips, fuelling Clara's rage further. Her hands on her hips she glared up at him. He in turned looked down at her with his frosty eyes. He was right, she thought, those were attack eyebrows, and right now the expression on his face looked very much as if that was what he wanted to do.

The silent stalemate between them lasted only moments before the Doctor gave a huge huff, throwing up his arms and turning away from her. His long fingers adjusted a dial slightly and he pulled one of the myriad of screens dotted about the TARDIS towards him.

"And a P.E. teacher - don't even get me started on that". He snorted to himself as he continued to study the screen, jumping slightly and looking down in surprise at Clara as she pushed the screen away from him and jabbed a finger into his chest.

"He is _not_ a P.E. teacher, Doctor. He teachers _Maths_. And you know that very well, you're just being purposefully stubborn". She jabbed the finger at him again and the Doctor looked quickly down at it and back to her, pursing his lips and eying her questioningly.

"Clara, whatever Dave does in his free time is none of my business" he said, stepping back from her and swinging the screen back towards him. His mouth opened slightly as he concentrated on the readings, purposefully ignoring Clara whose cheeks had turned pink.

"And me?" she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest and studying him intently, choosing to ignore the fact that the Doctor had got Danny's name wrong _again_.

"You what?" he questioned back absently.

"What _I_ do in my free time. Is _that_ your business?"

The Doctor's eyes flickered to her momentarily and then back to the reading on the screen, but then he too pushed the screen away and turned to face her. He sighed and attempted a half-hearted grin. "I am your Space Dad after all, aren't I?".

On received no response from Clara though the smile fell from his face and he raised his hands in exasperation. "Oh come on Clara, it's a joke".

"Doctor answer me." Clara said, fighting to control the frustration that had still somehow managed to find it's way into her voice. The Doctor sighed, his gaze falling momentarily to his feet before he looked back at her once more, his gaze as piercing as ever.

"Of course it's my business Clara".

"Why? Why is it you business, Doctor? You've already told me once before that you're not my boyfriend".

"And I stand by that statement" the Doctor interrupted, an angry frown forming on his face.

"So tell me then, what makes you think you have a say in what I do when I step out of the TARDIS. Why do _you_ have a say in who I date?".

"Really, all this fuss over a P.E. teacher?" said the Doctor, raising an eyebrow at her. Clara fought the urge to stamp her foot in frustration. She could already feel tears threatening as she took a deep breath to try to steady herself.

"Doctor!".

"Fine!" he said in exasperation, moving away from her and stalking to the other side of the console. Clara remained standing where she was, but shifted slightly so she could see around the pulsing time rotor. "Fine" she heard him say more quietly. He moved once more, and Clara shifted again, waiting for his answer.

"Would you rather I didn't care?" he asked, not looking at her.

"Well no, yes, I don't know, that's not what I meant"

"Well make your mind up" the Doctor muttered, casting a steely glance her way.

"Wait I -" Clara began, but let her words trail away. She'd guessed that deep down the Doctor must still care about her in the some way, after all, he was still the Doctor. But ever since his regeneration he had been darker, colder, and in more ways than one. _Her_ Doctor had swung between emotions, but for the most part his boyish charm and affection towards her had always warmed her heart. Never once had she had any doubt that he had cared about her, never once had she doubted that he would not be there for her when she needed him.

But this _new_ Doctor, he was - different. Gone was the boy trapped in the man's body. Gone were the silly little anecdotes and the "wibbly-woblly-timeywimies". This Doctor was something altogether different and she had not, until now, been sure that she still meant the same to him as he did to her.

Her head swung up when she realised the Doctor was looking at her expectantly, one of his eyebrows raised . She realised that she had been drawn into thought, into the past. Controlling her shaking chin that was threatening to betray her she quickly shook her head.

"Nothing" she said quietly, turning away from the Doctor's inscrutable gaze. He frowned but otherwise said nothing. With a final glance at the screen his fingers curled around the thick brass lever and with a sharp pull the engines hummed to life.

Clara gasped and turned quickly back to face him. "Doctor! Where are we going? I need to get back?"

"What, to Dave?" sneered the Doctor over the sound of the engines.

With an expression like thunder Clara rounded on him. "It's _Danny_ ". The Doctor rolled his eyes and waved his hand absently.

"You need to take me back. Right now" said Clara, storming over to the TARDIS doors.

"No". The word sounded harsh and sharp coming from the Doctor's new mouth. Clara gaped at him, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"Excuse me?" she said, her voice full of disbelief.

The Doctor descended the centre console in one graceful movement to face her directly. Bending down to look her in the eyes, he gave her a sly smile. "No" he said again. Clara's mouth opened and closed quickly again, at a loss for what to say.

The Doctor straightened back to his full height. Clara felt her mouth go dry but shook her head, determined that he would not intimidate her.

"You can't just - kidnap me!" she said in disbelief.

The Doctor let out a sharp laugh, his brows raised as he turned back towards the centre console and pushed back the lever."Kidnap! This is _not_ me kidnapping you Clara".

"Well what is it then?" as the engines boomed once more and then settled.

"It's for your own good" he said, his eyes glancing to the windows set in the TARDIS doors above Clara's head.

"I - I -" Clara stuttered before shutting her mouth quickly when the Doctor stalked back to her position by the doors and glared down at her.

"Stop your stammering Clara. Just listen to me. I'm the Doctor. I am over 2000 years old. _I_ and _I_ alone, know what is best for you, and trust me when I say it's best that you stop seeing that boy". He turned away from her, straightening his jacket.

"So you _kidnapped_ me!?"

"I took you away from temptation!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Enough of this nonsense now. Go put on a jacket - the temperature on this planet can drop to below freezing and I won't have you going outside in just a cardigan".

"I'm staying here" Clara said sulkily, crossing her arms and planting her feet firmly on the ground. The Doctor's eyes widened dramatically, his chin dropping to his neck as he eyed her from under his eyebrows.

"Like hell you are. I know you, Clara Oswald. I leave you here and you try and run back to lover boy, breaking my TARDIS in the process. Trust me when I say this - you're coming with me."

"No" she spat with venom. "I. Am. Not." Her words were punctuated with as much force as she could muster. The Doctor glared at her angrily and she could see his jaw working, but then suddenly he turned and stalked away from her out of sight.

She let out a silent sigh of relief. He had listened. For a moment there she had thought that perhaps he was being serious. In no time at all footsteps signalled his return, and Clara groaned as he rounded the console towards her carrying a thick black coat. He chucked it to her casually and then stepped back, eyeing her with familiar intensity.

"Put it on Clara"

"No!" said Clara through gritted teeth, letting the coat drop from her arms. She knew she was being childish, hell, if a student in school acted like this she would have sent them out of her classroom by now, but nothing else was getting through to the stubborn bastard who now stood glaring at her. The expression on his face suddenly softened though and he shook his head as a smile formed on his face.

"Clara, Clara, Clara" he muttered in his smooth Scottish brogue. Gracefully he picked up the coat from the floor and moved towards her. In one smooth moment he had draped it over her shoulders, but Clara made no move to put her arms in.

The Doctor sighed and in one fluid motion he had grabbed her wrist and was forcing it through the arm of the jacket. "Hey!" Clara exclaimed, struggling against him to no avail. He was stronger than he looked, and his vast heigh over her was not helping things. This though, this was just embarrassing.

"Okay, okay, stop" Clara said. "I'll put it on".

Immediately the Doctor stepped away, one eyebrow raised as he watched her shrug on the jacket and glare up at him. "Where are we going then, _Doctor_?" she spat icily, her eyes narrowing even further when a grin formed on the Doctor's face. He stepped past her towards the doors and she turned to face him.

"Oh and so I need a coat but you don't?" she asked him moodily as he worked the Yale latch.

"Time Lord, Clara. Two hearts, extra circulation" he said, his back to her. Gripping the door the Doctor swung it open, stepping aside and casting a look at Clara, who had stepped forward unconsciously, her eyes wide. The corners of his mouth pulled slightly into a smile. "And you humans are oh so fragile" he muttered, more to himself than to her.

He was right about it being cold, Clara thought, although she refused to allow herself to wrap her arms more snuggly around herself with the Doctor still watching her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

The floor was hard beneath her feet as she stepped down from the TARDIS, the dust muffling her footfall as she took a step forwards. Overhead, three suns burned brightly, their lights blinding on the cliff faces before her that appeared to be made out of -

"Ruby. That's ruby isn't it Doctor?"

She hadn't even noticed him step down next to her but had caught the flash as he slipped the TARDIS key into his pocket.

"Yes, Clara, that is ruby" the Doctor said gruffly. Suddenly the sonic was in his hand and he pointed it quickly towards the cliffs, bringing it back sharply to look at the reading. "About 12,000 years old".

The sunlight, although bringing no warmth, shone harshly onto the ruby cliffs, their faces covered in jagged sheets and harsh falls which reflected the sun in blinding rays of technicoloured light.

"I would have bought you to the diamond cliffs, older - much more impressive you see. But someone graffitied them…" he said, his voice trailing off.

Clara eyes flickered to his face. "Graffitied?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment but then gave her a quick smile. "A story for another day. Come now. Much to see."

They walked silently for a bit, the Doctor occasionally pointing out facets of the landscape and regaling Clara with what she considered mostly useless pieces of information. Was this the Doctor simply trying to return things to normal, or was it him trying to take her mind off the fact that he had just stolen her off the face of the planet? She frowned, knowing only too well that it was most likely the latter.

She nodded thoughtfully as the Doctor explained a piece of outcropping rock to her. He had crouched down to place his palm against it, and occasionally turned his gaze back towards her as he explained the reasons for the outcrop and the spidery markings that were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Clara forced herself to keep a straight face, to act as though she were entirely absorbed in the ruby rock faces, when in fact her mind was racing through strategies of escape.

Danny had once told her, if the Doctor ever forced her too much, if he ever pushed her too far, to let him know. She had remembered promising him that she would do so, but knowing at the same time that the Doctor would never do such a thing. Maybe it was the high of their recent school yard victory, maybe it was the warmth in her chest as Danny's arms encircled her and held her close to him, but she had almost been sure that she would never need to tell him such a thing. But now, now she realised he had been right. He would someday push her too far, and today was that day.

"Clara."

The Doctor's voice was sharp and he glared up at her from under his eyebrows. "Yes Doctor?" Clara responded innocently, earning herself an even deeper frown from the Doctor as he straightened himself up.

"Do you not think that I don't know you well enough by now to know when you're listening and when you're not?" he questioned her sharply. Clara felt her hair stand on end at the edge of danger in his voice, choosing instead to remain silent, her eyes cast downwards rather than towards him.

He shook his head and then beckoned her forward with his hand. "Come on, there's something I want to show you".

Clara struggled to keep up with the Doctor's long strides, and it seemed that every five minutes he was turning back to her furiously to tell her to keep up, or else fixing her with looks that told her she wasn't moving fast enough. It was nearly nightfall when the Doctor stopped suddenly, and Clara, so weary from the journey nearly crashed into his back, saved only by the Doctor turning suddenly and placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Here". His hand delved into the pocket of his jacket and came out with a small container. Opening it the Doctor pulled out a clear patch with a small red centre. "Hold out your hand". He rolled his eyes when Clara remained standing still, eyeing him questioningly and instead grabbed her hand impatiently, pushing the patch firmly into the palm of her hand with his thumb.

Almost immediately Clara felt a surge of energy course through her as though she had just woken up from the best night's sleep of her life. "What was that?" she demanded, her eyes flickering between the patch on her palm to the Doctor, who was now replacing the container back into his inner jacket pocket.

"Vitality patch, keeps you fresh and alert" the Doctor responded. "Now come on, we're nearly there".

Clara followed alongside the Doctor with much more ease now, feeling a spring to her step which had not previously been there. When they finally hit steps carved into a grassy bank Clara ascended quickly, her legs no longer stiff and sluggish. The Doctor followed just behind her, his long legs taking the steps two, sometimes three at a time, easily keeping pace with her.

Finally though she stopped, as she rounded the last of the steps to step onto the cracked ruby rocks. "Doctor?" she questioned as the Doctor appeared over the lip of the steps. "Are we-?"

"Yes. This is the top of the cliff. And just in time too."

He moved forward with purpose to the edge of the cliff face, sitting down and manoeuvring his legs to hang off the edge.

"In time for what?" Clara asked nervously, her brows furrowed. The Doctor ignored her question, instead patting the ground next to him.

"You have to be joking if you think I'm going anywhere near the edge" Clara muttered.

"It's quite safe" retorted the Doctor, turning back over his shoulder to glance at her. "I wouldn't let you fall anyway".

Clara sighed, but moved forward anyway to take a seat a foot away from the Doctor. She was still angry at him, and he was still proving unpredictable, and something about that mix made her want to be as far away from him as possible. But then, if a gust of wind did push her off the edge, a mile's distance between them probably wouldn't be the best idea.

When the first sun went down below the horizon, Clara suddenly realised why the Doctor had brought her up here. As the sun had slipped below view, for the briefest of moments it had lit the landscape in a myriad of colours so dazzling that Clara surely believed she had seen some that did not even exist on earth. The Doctor looked towards her and smiled at her intake of breath as she watched the second sun set too.

For a moment Clara forgot her worries, forgot about the Doctor, about Danny, about everything but the beauty of the light which spilled about her so thick she could swear it was almost liquid. That is, she could almost have forgotten it until a sharp buzzing from inside her jacket pocket turned her attention.

The Doctor frowned at her questioningly as she fished around in her pocket, finally retrieving the phone with a flourish. Danny's name flashed on screen and she quickly answered it, the smile already wide on her face.

"Danny?" she asked, her brow creasing when no response was made to her greeting. "Hello? Danny, can you hear me?"

Darkness was beginning to set in, the first stars not yet popping into light, so the green light in the corner of her periphery was not hard to miss. Clara turned briefly toward it, and then suddenly snapped her head so hard towards it she could feel the muscles in her back protesting.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, watching as the Doctor sat still, the sonic screwdriver held at his side, on and working. He had not been looking at her, but from the downward cast of his mouth she could tell only too well his emotion. And then, in a surprisingly cavalier manner, he turned to her. "Blocking the TARDIS receiver".

"Why? Why would you do that?" Clara asked, feeling her voice rising, despite knowing the answer to the question. He was doing it to keep her away from Danny, away from the only man she had ever loved.

"Give me the phone Clara," the Doctor said softly, the sonic still humming in his grasp.

"No" Clara said through gritted teeth.

"Clara." The tone of his voice was a warning to her, she knew that, but she tightened the phone firmer in her grasp.

"No". Her lower lip was trembling and she could feel the tears welling in her eyes.

"Clara, I said, give it to me". The Doctor's steely eyes had turned towards hers now, and there was no forgiveness in his voice.

"No!" Clara shouted, shifting away from him, the phone still clutched tightly in her grip. If only she could make him lose his grip on the sonic she could call Danny - and what? What on earth could Danny do to help her now? He might be a soldier, he might even love her, but he was no Time Lord. She didn't even have any idea what this planet was called.

The Doctor had gotten to his feet silently and now extended his palm to her. His voice was icy, his expression dangerous as he glared down at her. "I will give you exactly five seconds to give me the phone Clara, and I assure you, it would be better for both of us if you don't let the timer go all the way to zero. Five".

He began the count and Clara gulped, hugging the phone to her chest. It was her only link to Danny, the only possible means of speaking to him ever again.

"Four".

But she knew the Doctor wouldn't allow that. No, she had to be smarter, had to think not like some love-stricken teenager, not like some moody child.

"Three".

She had to regain the Doctor's trust. Make him think she believed he knew what was best for her. Somehow, and she didn't know how, she had to trick him.

"Two".

The cleverest man in the universe. And her, Clara Oswald. But he had his flaws. She knew him. She could do it.

"One".

"Okay fine, fine. Here" Clara said through tears, placing the phone into his hand and turning away from him quickly. The final sun had just set, but the wash of colours brought no happiness to her now. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, the tears falling quickly down her cheeks. She brought her hand up and quickly brushed them away with the sleeve of the jacket.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" the Doctor said behind her. "Now, come on, let's get back to the TARDIS."

He began to move away from her, back to the steps from which they had come from, but Clara shook her head. "Are there inhabitants on this planet Doctor?"

The Doctor turned back to her slowly. "No, they all died long ago. We're alone here" he said, his voice full of wariness. "Why do you ask?"

"I, I don't want to go back just yet. I just, would like to stay here a bit longer. The stars - they're beautiful, and if no one else is here then we're not in any danger. And, I'm tired, too tired to walk back just now".

The Doctor frowned and came back to her side. "Tired? That vitality patch should last for a good couple of hours longer yet".

Clara shrugged, keeping her eyes fixed firmly ahead, knowing too well that if the Doctor could see them, he would see her lie.

"Must be from keeping them next to the sleeping patches, maybe some of the energy transferred" the Doctor said more to himself to Clara, and then "okay, we'll stay here. But only for a bit longer."

"Thanks" Clara muttered.

With the suns now set, the air temperature had dropped further, and Clara was secretly glad that the Doctor had forced the coat upon her. She was, in fact, rather comfortable, but still she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed furiously at her arms with her hands, a gesture she knew the Doctor wouldn't miss.

"Are you cold?" he asked, his voice concerned.

"A bit" she admitted. Another lie.

The Doctor sighed, but nevertheless proceeded to shrug off the usual jacket he wore and drape it around Clara's shoulders.

"Thanks" she muttered with a small smile, drawing the jacket around herself and looking back to the horizon. The TARDIS was barely visible, just a small point of blue in an otherwise barren and dusty stretch of land. She was trying to work out just how far it was when the Doctor spoke.

"Do you miss him?" His eyes remained fixed forward as he asked the question. The low tension in his voice told Clara that this was a question he had pondered more than once today. She glanced towards him, but he either didn't notice, or refused to look at her. Clara sighed and looked down at her lap, wringing her fingers together anxiously.

"I wouldn't normally, I mean, we've only been gone for a day at most. But then, the thought of not seeing him again, it, well, it breaks my heart." Clara paused and glanced at the Doctor once more. Despite his sideways profile, the frown that had formed on his face was plain. Clara had spoken the words, thinking only to goad him into realising the inherent flaw in her plan - she did not _want_ him to save her, or whatever it was he thought he was doing - but suddenly, she realised that it truly would break her heart. She loved him, Danny Pink. She knew that now. _I love Danny Pink_. The gripping pain that shot through her chest suddenly made it near hard to breathe.

"Doctor, I-" she began, thinking only to beg him to reconsider once more, but his blue eyes suddenly swung towards her, so intense in their ferocity that Clara flinched away from him.

"What do you mean, 'we've only been gone for a day'? What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?" said Clara defensively, feeling the intense wave of sadness become tinged instead with an anger she thought she had already burnt out once today. "You asked me if I missed him."

The Doctor's eyebrows curved ferociously at her, and then shot up in an expression of surprise. He grinned, although it showed nothing but coldness. He pointed a finger at himself and then turned it on Clara and then back to himself and nodded, letting out a choke of a laugh and turning back to the horizon.

"I see. You though I meant P.E."

"Who else?" asked Clara, her interest piqued, although she still held herself back from him, scared by the coldness she had seen in his eyes. Suddenly though the coldness fled his face and his shoulders slumped. It was as thought Clara could suddenly see him, the _real_ him, the man that had fled his home to ruin, forever destined to travel through the realms of space and time with nothing but the promised hope of what - companionship? Love? Suddenly Clara realised.

"You meant you, didn't you. Do I miss…the last you?"

The Doctor was still, but then nodded, leaning back on his arms and closing his eyes.

"I-" stammered Clara, at a loss for words. Did she miss him? She turned her eyes away from the Doctor to look out at the horizon as the stars broke into being, some a brilliant white like those on Earth, but others taking on a faintly pink and green hue. She brought her thoughts back to the Doctor she had first known, the one with the floppy hair and the boyish smile.

Did she miss him?

Of _course_ she missed him. She missed how he would throw his arms around her in the ecstasy of victory, how he would tap her nose with his long index finger, how he always seemed to be able to laugh easily, even when his eyes held nothing but sadness.

She had once held feelings for him, feelings more than just friendship - she knew it, and she knew he knew it too. But he had always held her back, had always pushed her away, even when she knew that sometimes his hugs lasted for too long, even though his eyes were sometimes on her when he though she wasn't watching. She had once wondered why, but deep down she knew. The Doctor had always hated being alone, but even more than that, he hated death, he hated loosing people, and the more attached he got to someone, the more difficult it was for him to loose them. She was a human - her time in the universe was limited to only a spark in his own existence.

" _Amelia_ ". That's what he had said, the last time she had ever seen him. It had hurt her more than he would ever know that his last dying thoughts were of another woman, but she hadn't shown it to him at the time. It was only later when she lay in bed did she allow the tears to slip down her cheeks at the memory.

" _Who's Amelia?_ " she has asked him. " _The first face this face saw_ " he had answered as his eyes had tracked a memory around the TARDIS console room. Clara sighed and closed her eyes momentarily before shifting to face the Doctor, his face now bathed in starlight.

"He was the first face this face saw of your kind" she said softly.

The Doctor gave a small smile, his eyes still closed. "Using my own lines against me now, Clara?"

Clara said nothing and looked away from him instead, shifting closer to the edge of the cliff and letting her feet dangle off the side. The stars were bright in the cloudless sky, the air bitingly cold. Clara glanced towards the Doctor again - it was as though he didn't even feel it.

Trying not to make a sound, Clara reached within the Doctor's inner pocket of the jacket that was still wrapped around her shoulders. Her fingers brushed against the cold metal of the TARDIS key, but it wasn't what she was after, instead finding and pulling out a small cylindrical tin. She quickly placed it to her left, away from the Doctor on the right, and quietly flicked the catch open

A quick glance told her that is was what she was after. Nestled inside were four compartments, one now empty, but the other three containing what looked like patches. Two of them had a blue pinpoint of liquid at the centre, the other, red.

Clara felt her heart beating as she pulled out a blue centred patch with her left hand, the same one that held the now empty vitality patch that the Doctor had pushed onto her earlier.

" _Must be from keeping them next to the sleeping patches, maybe some of the energy transferred_ ".

Transferring the cylindrical piece of plastic to her other hand, Clara surreptitiously edged closed to the Doctor. Sensing her movement his eyes cracked open and he glanced at her with a cold look. She, however, turned away from him.

"The stars are beautiful, don't you think Doctor?" she asked him as she scanned the sky.

She could still feel his eyes on her as he nodded. "They are, truly, breathtaking" he near whispered.

"I will always miss the old you" Clara said after a moment, her eyes brimming with tears, "just as you will always miss Amelia -"

"-how do you know about...?" the Doctor questioned quickly, his voice full of surprise.

Clara shrugged. "It - it doesn't matter. All I'm trying to say is that, just because you miss someone, it doesn't mean that you don't appreciate what's in front of you now". She turned to face the Doctor, placing her hand over his.

"Times change, Doctor. Sometimes, it's best not to fight it". He was about to answer her when suddenly his brows furrowed confusedly at her, his eyes drooping. A tear fell down Clara's face as she removed her hand from his own, looking at where she had placed the sleep patch onto his skin. His eyes followed her own.

"What have you done Clara?" he said groggily, before his eyes closed and he keeled over to one side.


End file.
